-HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination

Sandia National Laboratory

Albuquerque, New Mexico [SEC-00188] 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Determination Concerning a 

Petition to Add Members to the Special Exposure Cohort

under the 

Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000

Determination Concerning a Petition for Certain Employees from

Sandia National Laboratory 

Albuquerque, New Mexico
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Sandia National Laboratory

Albuquerque, New Mexico [SEC-00188]

Page | 2

I. Determination

I, Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) (HHS), have 

determined that the employees defined in Section II of this report do not meet the statutory 

criteria for addition to the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC), as authorized under the Energy 

Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA), 42 U.S.C. 

§ 7384q.

[Signature on File]

Xavier Becerra, Secretary

August 8, 2023

Date

II. Employee Class Definition

All personnel that worked in any area at Sandia National Laboratories in 

Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the period from January 1, 1997, through May 

21, 2011.

III. Decision Criteria and Recommendations

Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, to designate a class for addition to the SEC, the Secretary 

must determine, upon recommendation of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker 

Health (Board), that

(1) It is not feasible to estimate with sufficient accuracy the radiation dose that the 

class received, and

(2) There is a reasonable likelihood that such radiation dose may have endangered 

the health of members of the class.

The SEC final rule states in 42 C.F.R. § 83.13(c)(1) that it is feasible in two situations to 

estimate the radiation dose that the class received with sufficient accuracy. First, the rule 

states that radiation doses can be estimated with sufficient accuracy if the National Institute 

for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has established that it has access to sufficient 

information to estimate the maximum radiation dose for every type of cancer for which 

radiation doses are reconstructed that could have been incurred under plausible 

circumstances by any member of the class. Alternatively, radiation doses can be estimated 

with sufficient accuracy if NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information 

to estimate the radiation doses of members of the class more precisely than a maximum dose 

estimate.

In a letter dated September 5, 2022, and received on September 12, 2022, the Board, pursuant 

to 42 U.S.C. § 7384q, agreed with the following NIOSH findings, effectively advising the 

Secretary that radiation doses can be reconstructed with sufficient accuracy for the evaluated 

class of employees who worked at the Sandia National Laboratory in accordance with 

provisions of EEOICPA and the SEC final rule.
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Sandia National Laboratory

Albuquerque, New Mexico [SEC-00188]

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IV. Determination Findings

Feasibility of Estimating Radiation Doses 

The Secretary established the feasibility determination for the class of employees covered by 

this report based upon the findings summarized below:

• The principal sources of internal radiation dose for members of the proposed class 

included exposures to plutonium, tritium, uranium, americium, and fission and activation 

products. Potential exposure pathways could have involved the handling of these 

radionuclides during waste-burial operations or exposure to surface or air contamination 

associated with reactors and/or accelerators work. NIOSH has concluded that internal 

radiation dose reconstruction for these exposures is feasible. 

• NIOSH has determined that it has sufficient information to reconstruct internal radiation 

doses for the evaluated class of employees who worked at the site from the period from 

January 1, 1997, through May 21, 2011. The Board concurred with this finding

• The principal sources of external radiation doses for members of the proposed class 

included exposures to beta, gamma, and neutron radiation. Exposures could have 

occurred from a variety of scenarios, including waste-handling activities and hot cell 

work, work with reactors and accelerators, analysis of samples obtained from blast 

experiments conducted at the Nevada Test Site, and medical X-rays received onsite as a 

condition of employment.

• NIOSH has determined that it has sufficient information to reconstruct all external

radiation doses for the entire evaluation period from January 1, 1963, through May 21, 

2011, including the evaluated class of employees who worked at the site from January 1, 

1997, through May 21, 2011. The Board concurred with this finding.

• NIOSH determined that it is feasible to reconstruct with sufficient accuracy occupational 

medical dose for Sandia National Laboratory workers over the entire evaluation period 

from January 1, 1963, through May 21, 2011. The Board concurred with this finding.

• NIOSH has established that it has access to sufficient information to: (1) estimate the 

maximum radiation dose, for every type of cancer for which radiation doses are 

reconstructed, that could have been incurred in plausible circumstances in any member of 

the class; or (2) estimate radiation doses more precisely than an estimate of maximum 

dose for the evaluated class of Sandia National Laboratory employees who worked at the 

site from January 1, 1997, through May 21, 2011. Information in available resources is 

sufficient to estimate the maximum internal and external potential exposure to members 

of the evaluated class under plausible circumstances during the specified periods.

• The Board concurred with NIOSH's determination that dose reconstruction is feasible for 

the evaluated class of Sandia National Laboratory employees who worked at the site from 
HHS Special Exposure Cohort Determination:

Sandia National Laboratory

Albuquerque, New Mexico [SEC-00188]

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January 1, 1997, through May 21, 2011, and therefore the class should not be added to 

the SEC.

Health Endangerment

Because the Secretary established that it is feasible to estimate the radiation doses 

encountered by Sandia National Laboratory employees as specified in this class, a 

determination of health endangerment is not required.

V. Effect of the Determination

Members of the class of employees covered by this determination and their survivors 

continue to be eligible to submit claims for compensation under EEOICPA. As required for 

cancer claims covering other Department of Energy and Atomic Weapons Employer 

employees (or Atomic Weapons employees) not included in the SEC, qualified cancer claims 

under Part B of EEOICPA for members of this class will be adjudicated by the Department 

of Labor, in part, on the basis of radiation dose reconstructions, which will be conducted by 

NIOSH.

VI. Administrative Review of Determination

The determination provided in this report may be subject to an administrative review within 

HHS, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. § 83.18(a). On the basis of such a review, if the Secretary 

decides to designate the class of employees covered by this determination, in part or in 

whole, as an addition to the SEC, the Secretary will transmit a new report to Congress 

providing the designation and the criteria and findings on which the decision was based.